Qudelix 5K Reference DAC AMP

Product Information

Where the 5K blows my mind is in the myriad of options found in the app. There’s enough DSP horsepower that I can actually recommend the 5K for people using speakers to do surgical room EQ. App - Full disclosure: I'm a noob when it comes to EQ'ing so I've mostly left this portion of the app alone, although I have played around with it to test to capabilities - I could see how having both graphical and parametric EQ would be extremely useful, more so than say the basic adjustments offered on the Fiio BTR5 (from what I can tell). There are a wealth of EQ presets from Crinacle, Oratory1990, and rtings, although I'm unlikely to use them. Aside from the EQ functionality, there is a ton of detail for pretty much every option. The Battery life graph is perhaps the most useful portion of the app for me so far. The battery holds okay for my on-the-go needs, but don’t expect it to last an entire day without charging.

As a USB DAC, the Qudelix 5K may leave some wanting as it only supports PCM datastreams up to 24bit/96kHz. The embedded pro-grade equalizer is a vital benefit of 5K DAC/AMP over other similar products. It processes every incoming source audio from everywhere: Youtube, Apple Music, Spotify, iOS, Android, PC, Bluetooth(all Codecs), and USB.EDIT- I stand corrected- @unplugged is correct. Priority only matters when there is music playing on the BT device and USB devices. Regardless of priority settings if the USB connection is the only one live with music into the 5k- that is what will play unless you start playing on the BT connected device too. In everyday use, the first hurdle is memorizing the button press commands and which button does what.

A few weeks ago I made the leap off of the True Wireless train by grabbing my first pair of wired IEM's (Fiio FH3's) and a Bluetooth DAC, the Qudelix 5K.At the same time, with great power comes great power draw. With 10 band PEQ correction running, I can spend the smallish 500mAh battery in as little as 5 hours, depending on the listening volume. And that’s with sensitive IEMs. Running adventurous DSP configs with hungrier full-size headphones will drain the battery even faster.

In practical terms, the power output should be enough for most dynamic headphones and more sensitive planars, depending on how much headroom is sacrificed to the gods of DSP. The Qualcomm QCC5124 Bluetooth chip is also nothing exotic at this price tier; however, Qudelix has put its little spin here. Instead of relying on squiggly PCB traces, the receiver uses a separate 3D antenna. It makes the 5K more immune to failing signal strength due to direction changes and increases connection reliability at a distance. This is the lowest battery life portable DAC i have ever had. I do use it in single DAC mode, not Dual which eat more power. Of course, driving 4V into a dead short won’t mean infinite power as the specified max power is 80mW for the 3.5mm and 240mW for the balanced 2.5mm. In terms of bugs and problems, I can’t really report much. Firmware updates over Bluetooth take a few minutes and sometimes fail; however, the 5K always remembers the last good version and boots up nicely.Overall, the listening experience is very palatable with all headphones. The copious DSP options allow me to craft correction curves, which, in my opinion, make the greatest sonic improvement. I can effortlessly wrangle the Monarch’s treble peak and add the missing sparkle on the Arias. With Bluetooth, there are no noise complaints, although, with Apple devices, the AAC codec isn’t as detailed as LDAC but is still more than enjoyable. Qudelix 5K won’t win any awards for sharp looks, so all you need to do is listen! One can turn down the system gain if any digital boosting is present to avoid clipping. The “QX-feed” enables crossfeed, which I find inoffensive, if a little simplistic, compared to more advanced solutions on the market. Best to experiment with what works best here. In the DSP settings lies the main strength of the Qudelix 5K – total control over tone shaping Wish people would Please stop defending the fallacy that something has to look ugly or use cheap feeling materials to perform well.

As seen in the app, one can expect up to 2VRMS SE and 4VRMS BAL out of the 5K. It’s a smart rating for a portable device, as battery power means limited voltage. The general sound signature is decently detailed and somewhat warm. Not a hint of the olden ES9018’s icy tinge.

Whoops!

I will go as far as to say that pairing the Qudelix 5K with naturally warm-sounding headphones can be too much. With the Moondrop Aria, I approached that line. The Monarch Mk1 are a better match and let me appreciate the detail retrieval of both devices. In the manual, the four button positions are called: red upper, red lower, blue upper, and blue lower, respectively. Initially, it was a bit of a problem to figure out which is which, as the indicator LEDs light up only when you press something. It is apparent that Qudelix is busy improving the software, and I had more than five app and firmware updates in a few months. These are not just bug fixes – I bought the 5K due to its 10-band PEQ. Then one fine day, Qudelix doubled the number of PEQ bands via a firmware update. What sets Qudelix apart is that the company is an official Sony LDAC technical partner. Reportedly Qudelix was responsible for developing the LDAC solution for the Qualcomm QCC5000 platform. The QCC5124 receiver, as seen in just about every higher-end Bluetooth DAC/amp, relies on the work done by Qudelix to operate using the LDAC codec. I've seem from people that own both the qudelix and competition (BTR5), that que 5K presents way better range.